Teja Arboleda, a nationally-acclaimed expert on race and cultural diversity, will
appear at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 23 as part of Ferris State University's Martin Luther
King Jr. Celebration.

The five-star campus presentation by Arboleda, titled "Race Off," will be held in
Williams Auditorium. It is co-sponsored by Entertainment Unlimited, the campus programming
board, and the MLK Celebration Planning Committee.

Arboleda is an Emmy Award-winning television producer, director and writer who uses
entertainment to discuss race and cultural diversity. He established Entertaining
Diversity, Inc. in 1992 to create educational media and live events.

He also is an assistant professor at the New England Institute of Art, where he teaches
race and ethnic relations courses, and is author of "In the Shadow of Race," an account
of his experiences as a multiracial American. Arboleda is African American-Native
American, Filipino-Chinese and German-Danish, and grew up in Japan, Germany and the
United States.

"Arboleda challenges his audience to forget existing stereotypes about different ethnicities
and discusses how separation of races came to exist," said Melissa Hanson, president
of EU. "He will address the human race as a whole and push people to have an open
mind when thinking about diversity."

Arboleda will share personal experiences and use logic to help students see race and
cultural diversity in a relatable way, Hanson said.

His appearance is free and open to the public, and wraps up Ferris' 2013 MLK Celebration,
which begins Monday, Jan. 21. Other events organized to mark the late civil rights
activist's work include a soup kitchen, freedom march and guided tours and events
at the Jim Crow Museum of Racist Memorabilia.